Minerals and Waste in Dorset

This is a summary of our recent work with minerals and waste in Dorset.

Dorset Waste Partnership I attended a meeting of the Dorset Waste Forum where Hilary Cox, Chair of the Waste Management Panel, explained that all the Dorset District and Borough Councils had joined with the County Council to deliver in-house County wide collection, treatment, disposal and cleansing services. These services will be implemented from 1 April, will be uniform throughout the County, and are expected to achieve minimum savings of £2 million by 2015/6. The rate of recycling will also increase substantially.

Dorset Campaign Against Litter (DCAL) Sam Harding, from National Office, attended the February meeting and reported on the Stop the Drop campaign. The first National Litter Convention was held in London in December where Bill Bryson gave a keynote speech as President of CPRE. There has been much recent publicity on television and elsewhere built around the slogan “Love where you Live” about all sorts of litter problems. Litter Abatement Orders will be pursued especially at railway stations where some of the worst litter seems to accumulate. Bill Bryson and others discussed these Orders on Countryfile (BBC1) recently. The Deposit Refund Scheme for plastic, glass and aluminium drinks containers is being discussed with the manufacturers. Several Dorset Parish Councils have joined the Parish Litter Warden Scheme.

Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Draft Minerals Core Strategy 2010 This will set out the vision, spatial strategy and policy framework for minerals in Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole. I am most grateful to Colin Brixton who submitted a comprehensive response to the Strategy, on behalf of the Branch, when I was recently indisposed. Dorset Green Technology Park I attended a presentation in November where Zog, the new owners, described their Masterplan for the redevelopment of the Dorset Green with the refurbishment of existing buildings, the construction of 5000 square metres of new B1 business space and some new business starter units. There are longer term plans for a possible hotel and 700 houses.

Wytch Farm Oilfield David King organised a coach tour of the oilfield for about twenty-five members and friends. This was a most instructive and enjoyable event. Thank you David.

Winfrith Site Stakeholder Group I attended a meeting of the Group in October where we heard about the recent decommissioning of Low Level Waste at RSRL. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, like many others, are facing substantial cuts in funding and staff and their work will take much longer than had been hoped.

Climate Change and Renewable Energy I attended a meeting, organised by the Cranborne Chase AONB, at Donhead St Mary in north Dorset to discuss a variety of modern methods.

Proposed Quarry at Southwell We continue to await developments with interest.

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) at Dorset Green Technology Park a decision on this Planning Application is also awaited with interest.

Jurassic Coast During the summer of 2010 on fourteen consecutive Saturdays I completed a guided walk, of about 95 miles, along the East Devon and Dorset World Heritage Site. We studied the geology together with the formation and extraction of a variety of minerals throughout the walk which began at Exmouth and ended at Studland. More details can be found elsewhere in this issue.

I remain happy to discuss any of these matters at greater length with anyone who is interested.